El Paso households to see monthly water bill rise starting in March as utility’s budget soars

El Paso households will see their monthly water bills increase by nearly $6 on average beginning in March after El Paso Water’s board approved a rate increase Wednesday to fund the utility’s $1 billion budget for 2025.

Water bills have escalated significantly over the last decade to pay for El Paso Water’s multi-billion dollar renovation of the city’s water and sewer systems, and for stormwater infrastructure to limit flooding. Revenue collected from El Paso Water customers funds the utility’s annual budget, which has almost doubled since 2021 when it stood at about $504 million.

The new rates will increase the average El Paso household’s monthly water bill by $5.71, bringing the typical bill for water, sewer and flood control to about $82. That doesn’t include other city charges that are tacked onto water bills, including an environmental fee of $5, a franchise fee of $6 and a charge for a gray curbside trash bin of $21 per month.

“The main budget driver continues to be the need to invest in infrastructure,” El Paso Water CEO John Balliew said during the utility’s board meeting. “Half-a-billion dollar a year capital program is about what we need to keep our head above water, and to gain ground as far as our infrastructure and water supply projects.”

Five members of the seven-member Public Service Board that governs El Paso Water voted in favor of the rate hike. One seat is currently vacant, and the mayor makes up the seventh seat. Mayor Renard Johnson abstained from voting on the utility’s budget on Wednesday. 

“I’m new to the Public Service Board, and I think for the taxpayers, I should stay out of this one,” Johnson said.  

El Paso Water’s budget for next year is nearly $1.06 billion, which includes the utility’s three units: $956 million for water delivery and sewage – an increase from $889 million last year – and $101 million for the stormwater unit that manages flood control, which is a $2 million increase over last year. 

However, El Paso Water isn’t raising customers’ rates across the board. Over one-third of the utility’s household customers may see their bills decrease this year, a move meant to both help some customers better afford their bills and also encourage water conservation. 

El Paso households that use just 1 centum cubic foot, or CCF, of water per month – about 748 gallons – will see monthly bills fall by about $10. And customers who use 4 CCFs of water or less will see the $15 water supply replacement charge on their monthly bills waived. El Paso Water said those two changes would apply to about 84,000 of its 220,000 customers, but the utility’s hope is that more households will slash their water usage below 4 CCFs monthly to get a break on their water bills.  

From the mid-1970s through 2023, the average amount of water that El Pasoans used every day fell from 225 gallons to 131 gallons per day. In order to keep driving down per-person water consumption in El Paso, the utility has to boost rates, according to Balliew.  

“The number one water-conserving tool that we have is the rate-making process,” he said.

El Paso Water’s budget has sharply increased in recent years in part because the utility has been replacing much of the aging water infrastructure in El Paso, where water pipelines the utility operates are a half-century old on average, Balliew said.  

El Paso Water has also been developing major capital projects such as the Advanced Water Purification Facility that will serve the Eastside with 10 million gallons of additional drinking water every day, as well as an expansion of the Bustamante sewage treatment plant in the Lower Valley. 

The Bustamante plant, which treats Eastside sewage, began approaching its maximum capacity a few years ago amid growth in that part of town. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality required the utility to expand the facility to treat up to 51 million gallons daily, an increase from 39 million gallons per day currently. 

The costs of both projects have ballooned amid economy wide inflation in recent years; the AWP treatment facility has roughly doubled in cost to $300 million and will begin operating in 2027. El Paso Water still has to spend another $757 million to expand the Bustamante plant over the next five years.